Junk site removed after 17-year county effort

Troy Henderson, Whitman County Public Health Director, reported a 17-year long solid waste issue was resolved at a Board of Health meeting Monday afternoon.

Henderson said the first complaint about a property just off of Highway 27 between Oakesdale and Garfield came in 2002.

Environmental Health Director Chris Skidmore said after a solid waste issue complaint is filed, a site visit is conducted to verify the complaint. An employee takes photos of the site, and a file is started for the property address.

"We will then go to the county assessor and find out who the property owner is and what address they have on file," Skidmore wrote in an email.

The owner then receives a letter explaining the solid waste issue, and requests that they contact the public health office within 10 business days.

"Once we have opened up a line of communication with the property owner, we can start to discuss what the challenges will be to get it cleaned up," Skidmore said. "Sometimes those challenges can be daunting and cleanup doesn't always happen as fast as we would all like."

The site included several former container units and old cars.

Henderson said the majority of solid waste cleanup is funded by the Local Solid Waste Financial assistance grant from the Department of Ecology.

Board members also discussed that the two measles cases in Moscow are now stable, and the measles outbreak is officially over in Latah County.

Henderson said the public health website added an air quality page to inform the public on how to stay safe during wildfire season. The page can be found at http://www.whitmancountypublichealth.org/air-quality.html.

"The last few years, the State Department of Health has gotten much more engaged," Henderson said. "Especially since we smoked out the west side last year [from wildfires]."